More Trump tariffs could mean pricier Apple Watches and Fitbits

The Trump administration recently fired off a round of tariffs against Chinese imports and while the effects on most consumer tech goods has been minimal for the moment, a second wave of tolls that could come this fall may mean more expensive smartwatches and other wearables.

Reuters reports that more than 6,000 categories of products are being considered for new tariffs valued at about $200 billion. The US Customs and Border Protection has issued rulings that find several specific products that are or have components belonging to those affected categories and shall be subject to the duties, including:

Most of these watches, fitness trackers and speakers are older with the original Apple Watch having been discontinued, but more products could come under the red-inked tariff codes with further CBP rulings. In the case of these devices, a 10 percent duty could be applied.

The latest tariffs are in a public comment stage and could be enacted in October. Experts say that the companies could hope that the tariff codes come off the list, they could make their case to have the tariff code taken off the list, get an exclusion after the new tariffs take effect or, the most difficult option, apply to have their products come under a different tariff code.

Apple, Fitibit and Sonos do not give specific revenue numbers for their products, but its believe that the three had a combined $12.5 billion in wearables sales last year with the former estimated to have made up $9.9 billion by itself.

Jules Wang is News Editor for Pocketnow and one of the hosts of the Pocketnow Weekly Podcast. He came onto the team in 2014 as an intern editing and producing videos and the podcast while he was studying journalism at Emerson College. He graduated the year after and entered into his current position at Pocketnow, full-time.